Monsignor Percy Johnson
Catholic High School (Secondary)

2170 Kipling Avenue, Etobicoke M9W 4K9

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History & Tradition

In November 1983, the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now Toronto Catholic District School Board) and the Archdiocese of Toronto announced plans to start a new Catholic high school in north Etobicoke for September 1984. This was to alleviate the severely crowded conditions in our existing local Catholic schools. Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School opened its doors in September 1984, in temporary quarters leased from the Etobicoke Board of Education for a period of two years. This arrangement ended when a longer term lease and larger facility became available and Monsignor Percy Johnson High School moved to its present location on Kipling Avenue in September 1986. The Very Reverend Monsignor Johnson, after whom the school was named, dedicated his life to the service of others as priest, army chaplain, and school trustee. He served the Archdiocese of Toronto for 47 years and is an inspiration for our school community.

The legacy of Monsignor Johnson is exemplified in the student body and staff striving for academic excellence while living spiritually and socially the gospel message. A Johnson student is identified through our school uniform, our school colours--black, white and red, our athletic teams--the Jaguars, but especially by our school motto, “heart speaks to heart” which permeates all our activities. All students and parents of Johnson are asked each year to sign a school contract that confirms support for school policies and for a detailed code of behaviour that has been designed through the input of staff, students and community.

The school served as a pilot project for the Ministry of Education destreaming of grade 9 and the experience of our staff has been used as a resource for the school in our Board as well as others. The expertise we have developed in curriculum development and implementation is reflected in our students' high rate of academic success.

Monsignor Johnson continues as a welcoming community for those seeking a safe, Catholic education of the highest academic calibre. This is balanced with a vital co-curricular life in an atmosphere of collaboration and celebration.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

Monsignor Johnson is a community of learning where our objective is to welcome and educate each child regardless of ability, sex and ethnic and racial origins. We strive for the total development of the human person: religious, intellectual, physical, cultural, emotional, social and ethical. Our classrooms are characterized by active student learning and high time on task; cooperative learning and peer tutoring; regularly assigned and monitored homework; continuous monitoring and reporting of student achievement and mastery at each step of learning with appropriate difficulty. At Johnson we expect a high standard of performance by all--not the same, but a high degree of performance by all.

In addition to academic excellence, we, as a Catholic school community, through prayer and service, strive to give witness to Christ in the love and support we show for each other. To this end, the full credit religious education program emphasizes community involvement through such initiatives as the community service component of the grade 12 program. This involvement may also be seen in the students' participation in such events as food drives, Christmas basket collections, the St. Benedict “summer daze” program, and an outreach breakfast program. The chaplaincy team arranges homeroom masses and retreats to develop a loving and supportive relationship among our students.

We have an excellent resource department that modifies programs for our gifted students as well as for those students with learning disabilities. A realistic educational plan that incorporates future goals is formulate for each student with the collaboration of subject teachers and guidance counselors.

We also provide the opportunity for identified students to earn credits while receiving support in a small classroom setting. In fact, Johnson just recently received an award of honourable mention from the Ministry of Education for our exemplary practice in integration. In addition, our school-based support team, which meets once a week, helps identify students in need of assistance and designs an active plan which supports the needs of the student as well as the classroom teacher.

Our English as a second language department uses a variety of courses and techniques to meet its goal of full integration for our ESL students in the curricular and extracurricular life of the school.

The library resource centre provides support materials for concepts learned in the classroom. It helps students acquire knowledge and skills to become independent learners, able to make sound judgments in the light of Christian values. Specifically it teaches students how to access and use information on the electronic superhighway, and provides expert coaching for student research.

Our new communication technology program involves CAD drafting, animation, graphics, amateur radio communication, and video and still photography. The lab is linked to “the information superhighway” through internet and Compuserve. Our new television studio was completed at the start of 1996.

After-school support workshops for English, mathematics, science as well as computer labs, open every day after school, provide assistance with the help of peer facilitators and teachers.

Peer facilitator and peer tutoring programs provide extra individual help, tutoring, and mentoring students having difficulty achieving and fitting in the mainstream educational setting. Research has demonstrated that both the tutor and the tutee develop new skills along the way and grow in self-esteem.

For students who learn best outside the classroom we have cooperative education with off-campus work placements that allow students to earn multi credits towards their secondary school diploma. This experience suits their learning styles and the community becomes an extension of our classrooms.

To ensure race and ethno-cultural equality, we support and celebrate our cultural diversity through study and activities initiated by our chaplaincy team, social science and religion departments and associations such as our Italian, Spanish and Afro heritage clubs. In 1993 Johnson won, from the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Citizenship, an award for our antiracism and multicultural programs. Johnson believes in affirmative action, promotes inclusive language, and encourages women to continue in technology, science and mathematics.

Athletics play an important role in our school life at Johnson through our varsity and intramural programs. We have 19 different school teams and Johnson has qualified for provincial play-offs in men's and women's basketball, men's volleyball and men's softball. In the intramural program we stress participation rather than competition and develop life skills such as leadership, cooperation and responsibility.

School News

Grade 8 Open House
November 3, 2010
7:00 p.m.

PA Days 2010-2011

• September 2, 2010 (Provincial Education Priorities)
• June 28, 29, 30 (System priorities and local goals articulated in school Learning Improvement Plans)

Exam Dates 2010-2011

• January 25, 26, 27, 28
• June 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27

Le Concours et Festival d'art oratoire
TCDSB Students participated in Concours et Festival d'art oratoire, an annual French public-speaking event for students from grades four through 12 studying French as a Second Language in Ontario schools.
At this year’s event, held at York University on May 8th, Benjamin D., Grade 9 Student at Bishop Allen Academy was awarded 1st place for "L'eau"; Kristina Loudine, Grade 10 Student at Msgr. Percy Johnson was awarded 2nd place of "Les Phobies" and Alfred Chen, Grade 11 Student at Mary Ward was awarded 3rd place for "La tension religieuse: pourquoi existe-t-elle?"

Student Photographers
Our City Our Stories was a photography project launched last year by the City of Toronto sponsored by Canon Canada. Workshops led by professional photographers were held at diverse locations such as community centers and libraries. Monsignor Percy Johnson was one of two schools in Toronto selected to take part in this initiative. Students hosted two sets of workshops last spring's semester and eight workshops in last fall's semester. The work of all students was exhibited at City Hall. Student, Gabriella’s photographic abilities earned her a place as a top ten finalist.

Mayor David Miller, Mapela Uhindu-Gingala, Gabriella Abis, and Jenny W. in City Hall with their photo exhibits

2009-2010 Exemplary Practice Award Winner
Msgr. Percy Johnson Catholic High School for “Intergenerational Outreach Project”
An intergenerational outreach was initiative between the students of our school and seniors in a nursing home.  The goal is to have students collect narratives from seniors and produce a documentary video while considering the dignity and respect that should be accorded to the elderly as the underlying core theme in the documentary in order to have student educate other students in this regard.  Students and seniors are also being asked to write journals reflections about their experiences in bonding with each other.

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School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2009-2010

Safe School Plan -- 2009-2010

EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics:

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT):

The OSSLT shows the extent to which Ontario students are meeting the minimum literacy standard expected by the end of Grade 9. The test assesses the reading and writing skills as they apply to all subjects as out-lined in the Ontario Curriculum. Students must pass the OSSLT as one of the 32 requirements for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.